Lancer Kind

I’ve got some big news I’ve been waiting to share: my science fiction film THE XENOPHOBES is going to be available for rental on Amazon Prime Video starting March 6th. You can rent it for just $4.

Some of you have been following this journey since the beginning, and I can’t tell you how surreal it feels to finally say: you can watch it. I co-wrote this movie with director Hal Dace, and we shot it during the pandemic—which, if you can imagine, made everything about ten times harder. Our lead actress, Svetlana Tulasi, had to navigate constantly changing travel restrictions just to get from Moscow to Manhattan, Kansas, for the shoot. It took herculean effort from director Dace to will this film into existence.

So what’s it about? Picture this: Earth sends a crew of astronauts and their families on a 60-year roundtrip to make first contact with aliens on a distant planet. The aliens want absolutely nothing to do with them. So the crew heads home—only to find that Earth has changed so dramatically while they were gone that they’re now the aliens. I won’t spoil the ending, but I think it’ll surprise you.

Here’s where I need your help. As an indie film, we don’t have a massive marketing budget. What we have is something better: you. If you’re willing, here’s what would make a huge difference:

1. Rent it on Amazon Prime Video starting March 6th — it’s only $4, less than a coffee.

2. Leave us a star rating and review on Amazon — reviews are everything for indie films. Even a quick star rating helps us get seen by more people.

3. Tell a friend — share this email, post about it, text someone who loves sci-fi. Word of mouth is our superpower.

One thing to know: the film will only be available on Amazon Prime for a limited window, so don’t wait too long!

If you want to see behind-the-scenes photos of the cast and crew, head over to our Facebook page at facebook.com/epistrophypictures. And if you’re curious to hear from the people who made the film, interviews are coming on the SciFi Thoughts podcast at SciFiThoughts.space.

You can also find more info and a full press kit on my site: lancerkind.com/the-xenophobes-latest-news. If you’re a superfan, download our movie banners and “wear” it on your profile for the month. The cast and crew would love that!

Thank you all so much for being part of this journey. It means the world to me that you’re here. Now let’s get some people watching this movie!

Lancer

Thanks to You—We’ve Hit 300 Episodes!

I’m deeply grateful to all the listeners—this year, SciFi Thoughts surpassed 300 episodes! Our tricentennial episode features the inspiring story of how Nigerian author Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki was raised by a library. You can listen to it here.

Also, great news: FeedSpot has recognized SciFi Thoughts as one of the top science fiction podcasts, currently ranking us at #38! That’s just 37 steps away from #1—so if you enjoy the show, please share it with your friends and family. Let’s climb even higher together. Tell them to visit: http://SciFiThoughts.space

You can find SciFi Thoughts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and just about every major podcast platform. I recommend subscribing through a podcast app on your phone so you’ll get each new episode automatically as it goes live.

Film previewing in Manhattan Kansas

By working with director Hal Dace and Epistrophy Pictures, I have got my second IMDB credit and I’m super happy! The first one was for the Miss Wisenheimer’s and the Aliens, an animated science fiction movie that as of present time, exists as a short film. The Xenophobes, co-written by myself and director Dace, is a live action film, the filming which started in fall 2021. It was awesome seeing a studio put together and meeting actors, sound and camera crew and the works. I want to thank them all for the efforts they put in. And of course I want to thank the producers and investors that put in the cash to make the production possible.

This Sunday, April 21, the film will be shown in an AMC theater in Manhattan Kansas, near the location where filming happened. If you’re in the area, you can see the film for free at 3PM. Here are the details, and please if you drop in, say “hi!”

I write novels and short stories. Short stories are, well shorter so I can be more experimental. I wrote Morning Star City for a young adult audience so that my kids didn’t need to work so hard to read their Dad’s novels. Morning Star City was published in Rockets & Robots anthology (anthology means a book made from the work of many authors). These stories are design to stretch the minds of young people. They read well for adults too, it’s just that the main characters are youths and the situations are PG-13, so a little less violent or racy. Said another way, these stories are the same style you enjoyed as a youth so go read some contemporary science fiction that you would have loved to read as a kid. The editors of Rockets & Robots are Cheryl Morgan and James Maxey. James is a very accomplished science fiction and fantasy author so it’s an honor to work with him. Tap here to purchase Rockets & Robots on Amazon. I produced a SciFi Thoughts series about Rockets & Robots so you could meet Cheryl, James, and some of the other authors published in this anthology. Tap here to listen to the series.

I bought my EV in 2018 and it was a STEAL at $9,500 for a two-year-old car under warranty with 18,000 miles. I found it on Car Gurus which conveniently allows you to search for electric drive trains.

From then to now, nothing much has changed in my vehicle. So, it might be safe to say that my EV looks as good as new and works the same. Thanks to my instincts to understand when it needs maintenance, and my skills to keep it clean and sanitized with help of sanitizers like Air2 San (order the Air2 San Innovative Solutions & Technology), my vehicle gives me no trouble.

However, this might not be true for those who buy EVs in recent times. As the range of EVs keeps getting longer, this factor will eventually go away. But currently, the range is the most important factor to consider when deciding what to buy, and while looking for rates using sites such as https://invoice-pricing.com/. The longer the range, the more “payola” you’ll need to spend on an EV with a big battery (EV trim lines are about the battery size and range). I needed an EV that would get me to work and back, and run some errands. If you’re looking for a road-trip EV, you are looking at some big money, and frankly, I’d stick with a combustion engine for those matters. And let’s face it, most of us do a road trip about twice a year, and renting a dino-fuel car for those rare occasions has worked very well for me. Whatever kind of car you buy, make sure that you visit a car repair arvada shop or an auto garage in your area to ensure that the vehicle is in top condition and won’t malfunction during the road trip.

How much range is enough?

An electric car’s range will vary a little due to weather conditions. In the winter the range goes down about 15%. In the summer it increases 10%. Fall and Spring will be your baselines. And sometimes you want to take your co-workers for a spin or run some errands after work. So you need more than just for your commute. My suggestion is to have an extra 30% on top of what you need for your commute.

So take the distance from home to the office and multiply by that distance by 3.

Suggested EV Range = distance from home to work X 3

Speaking as someone who’s driven an EV for five years, the above formula has really worked well.

Charge Networks

Charge networks are companies that maintain charging stations around your city. These are the *new* gas stations. When you need to charge your car away from home, you can use their charge stations for a low cost, usually $1-3 dollars and often you don’t have to pay for parking when using a charge station (so it’s a discount from what you’d pay parking a gas car) and frequently the charge stations are located in premium locations. Payment is taken at the charge device by either swiping a credit card or using their smartphone app. Search your workplace or your favorite shopping areas for what charge networks are available. Most malls, Kohls, Walmarts, Fred Meyer, transit centers, translations, Starbucks, and park-and-rides have charge stations. Some are free to use. When was the last time you got free fuel?

Here is a list and map of charging networks in the Seattle area.